An African-American voter is forced to swear on a Bible

"did anyone else have to swear on a bible that their address was correct before they were able to vote? just wondering, because i did," Philadelphia voter Lindsay Grangerwrote on her blogafter voting in last Tuesday's mid-term election. "i had to lay my palm on the good book and state my name and address before i was allowed to sign my name in the voting log and enter the booth. they called it an affirmation. i call it creepy… and a little offensive…"

But that's not the really disturbing part:

When informed of the incident, Bob Lee, the Voter Registration Administrator for the Philadelphia City Commissioners, confirmed toThe BRAD BLOGthat Bibles are, indeed, included in the package of election materials provided to each polling site, but says no such oath is required before casting a vote.

I really wonder why churches are used as polling places at all. Churches are already walking a very thin line in terms of political involvement. Being tax-exempt organizations (for who knows what reason), churches are required by law to remain politically neutral. But it's been well documented that conservative-slated "voting guides" designed by the infamously neoconservative Christian Coalition (among others) are regularly distributed at churches throughout the country.

There have been other such strange incidents documented. PZ Myers mentioned a story about a voter who wore a "liberal anti-theist" shirt into a church voting place and, when she refused to cover it up, the poll-workers started "praying loudly" for her.

Now, I think it's a safe bet that while these incidents aren't necessarily widespread, they probably happen much more often than they should. They shouldn't happen at all. Churches have no business in politics, and there are plenty of secular public places, such as schools or libraries, that could function just as well as polling places.